Jeep returns to Malaysia, to be distributed by EON

DRB-Hicom has announced that its subsidiary company Edaran Otomobil Nasional (EON) has been appointed by Chrysler as the exclusive Jeep distributor in Malaysia.

In a brief press release, DRB-Hicom said that sales are set to begin in October, with four models making their way into EON showrooms. The spearhead models will be the fourth-gen Grand Cherokee (which sits on a platform derived from the third-gen W166 Mercedes-Benz M-Class), the KL Cherokee, Wrangler and Compass.

No mention about the incoming variants for each of the types – the brand has plenty, from Longitude, Trailhawk and Sport for the KL Cherokee, and the Laredo, Overland and Limited for the WK2 Grand Cherokee, for example. It was however mentioned that EON would establish a 3S (sales, service and spare parts) Jeep centre in Glenmarie by the start of sales operations.

It has been more than a decade and a half since the brand was last seen here. What do you think of the funky new Jeeps – the 2014 Cherokee and Compass look particularly bold. Do you think the current crop of Jeep models will do well here?

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

Govt, MITI should stop car dealership monopoly by few group as it’s against Competition Act 2010.

Why should DRB group control dealership from Audi to VW?? Naza control Kia, French brands? Sime control Hyundai, premium brands? Etc Etc Etc.

Clearly MITI is at mocking MyCC initiative to promote healthy competition in business!

The best solution is for principal carmaker to become the sole distributor and appoint capable local dealers that is fully committed in serving quality service to car buyers. Why should principal carmaker must kowtow to DRB, Naza, Sime darby etc. first then allow to sell cars here?

By bypassing those middleman, imagine the ‘hidden cost’ can be saved and principal carmaker able to lower the price even more to car buyers to get more sales!

In the first place do all the principal car makers want to come and incur the costs and take up all the risks of setting up shop in a low volume country like your Bolehland? Many will be saying take boleh lah.

Obviously ,those Foreign OEMs are more interested in working with the established (big names and with proven track record) local distributors, instead of directly setting up the local distribution companies of their own which of course more hassles for them for small market like Malaysia. Common sense..

Dunt understand why they kip bringing in these brands which sell in vely vely low numbers but seriuoaly overpriced, unless they made lots tons of profits ..if sel really low they will throw price big discounts spoiling
T the resale value of early buyers and end up like Chevy brand in Bolehland

As a car enthusiast, I am really glad to see such brands coming into Malaysia. I have to admit I am pretty bored seeing Toyotas flooding the local market. The reintroduction of the Jeep brand will somehow breath some fresh air into our automotive landscape.

Would love to see more foreign brands come into Malaysia eg Seat, Lancia, Chrysler sedans and Saabs.

Lancia brand sadly is as good as dead, unless Fiat is willing to invest in this brand. On the other hand , Saab as a car maker, miraculously is still alive, even after the much publicized bankruptcy saga. It currently operates under the banner of the Chinese owned National Electric Vehicle Sweden, currently building the petrol & electric powered Saab 9-3 Aero (the previous gen body design)specifically for Swedish & Chinese market.They are allowed to use the Saab name, under licensing by Saab AB.Maybe if they could sell enough volume, they could develop a whole new Saab model.

After this, DRB-Hicom should also explore the possibility to bring in the Dodge marque (which is part of the Chrysler Group) to Malaysia – specifically referring to the Dodge Challenger & Charger muscle cars!

I think Fiat (including Alfa) is currently evaluating who will be their latest distributors for this region, but considering their lack of new product line-up it could be some time before finalizing their decision whether it makes a bussiness case, unless Fiat & Alfa will be distributed under one roof..

I used to drive the old Jeep Wrangler YJ model when it was brought in by MBF. Great car to have on and off the road but the fuel consumption and road tax was a killer. Sold it off as the family was growing up and it was not exactly an everyday family car. Would do well if the price is right… hopefully!

Looking at the current engine choices, except for the Compass which actually has a 2.0L petrol, it’s either going to be big petrol engines >2.4L or diesels, 2.0-3.0L….hopefully it would be those diesels…

Because currently no one knows whether anybody is interested to bring back Opel to Malaysia. Unless Opel Asia Pacific has started talking to the established distributors (mainly the big boys) in Malaysia.Opel current models still looks nice, and quality-wise almost in the same league as VW, but they are starting to feel a bit dated already and due for replacement..

Some people like Competition Act 2010 just want to politicize everything by trying to link EON’s appointment as distributor of Jeep as some sort of government crony patronage. Does he/she not know that this is different from, say, YTL getting direct contracts from the government without any bidding. DRB probably applied to Chrysler and got the distributorship because it is a large company already established in the business. Heck, for some reason MBF got the Jeep distributorship before.

Paultan.org is one of the few blogs where I find the writers/contributors write objective and interesting articles and reports. I also find most of the followers are just interested about cars and the industry and do not bring up politics in their comments. If the likes of Competition Act 2010 wants to indulge in political rants then go to Malaysiakini, FreeMalaysiaToday, etc. or any of the blogs affiliated to the political parties. There’s plenty of them around.

In the meantime I prefer paultan.org to remain as what it is; a blog where people passionate about cars come together and talk about, well, cars basically. Of course once in awhile we do knock Sam Loo!!

Nice to have Jeep back and all, but the one American car company which I’d love to see here most is Tesla. :( With our (retarded) NAP seemingly favouring electric cars, and Malaysia clearly being the ASEAN leader in alternative energy car sales, I think it would be better to have Tesla here instead of Jeep.

The brand is cool. There has been a lot of improvement to the brand especially Grand Cherokee model. Has been the suv of the year in the USA since 2012 and in Australia in 2013. I owned for 3 years in the USA for 2011 model and more than a year now for 2014 model in Australia. The latest model is even better with all the gadgets you require in a car like keyless entry, push start button, etc. i call it very intelligent car. You own it only to know what i mean. It has sport mode fitted with it which really ” sound” and perform like sport car. Paddle shifter is really cool to go wîth sport mode. However in malaysia the price is really overated. Cannot believe the price is much dearer than Range Rover Evoque..

we are still using my grand father Jeep in Iran which is nearly 50 years old !! I owned 3 jeeps in Malaysia now I am very happy to see jeep back to Malaysia ! By the way I say Jeep I mean Jeep !! There is only one Jeep ……

You can either post as a guest or have an option to register. Among the advantages of registering is once a name has been registered, a guest cannot post using that name. If you have an account, please login before commenting. If you wish to have a profile photo next to your name, register at Gravatar using the same e-mail address you use to comment.